Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

this is definitely a Lutheran principle. Errors arise in the
church when theologians start with dogmatic statements,
whether their own or those of famous “fathers,” and use
Scripture only to support the preconceived notions thus
derived, instead of starting with the Scriptures and proving
all dogma from them. 268
Furthermore, Lillegard continues,
Pieper and Koehler claimed that their views on church and
ministry were in harmony with Dr. Walther’s view, and
that the opposite views were in reality a departure from
Walther as well as from the Scriptures. They did not reject
the use of “the fathers” to prove that a certain teaching is a
genuine Lutheran teaching, nor did they question the
orthodoxy of the Luther, Walther, etc. They only warned
against using their statements to prove points which these
in reality did not discuss or treat at all. 269 (Emphasis mine)
Lillegard then goes on to show that many of the arguments that Buenger advances
are not only on shaky exegetical grounds, but also shaky historical and confessional
grounds. For instance, Buenger had stated, “While the invisible church began with the
preaching of John the Baptist, the first Christian Church in the sense of a visible body
was founded by the Holy Ghost himself as a local congregation at Jerusalem.” 270
Lillegard eviscerates this premise by quoting Matthew 18, Matthew 16, Matthew 10, and
John 9. On top of this, Lillegard advances, was the Church not already established in the
Old Testament? 271 Furthermore, Lillegard insists that the Confessional writings do not
say anything about the divine institution of the local congregation or the local pastorate.
They certainly do not support the idea that all other offices are subordinate to the local
pastorate. He states,
268 Lillegard, Church and Ministry, 3.
269 Ibid.
270 Lillegard, Church and Ministry, 4.
271 Lillegard, Church and Ministry, 5.
145